Musings: from Sweet Tea to D.C.

Poetry

I recently came across the poet and author Neil Hilborn. In particular, I watched a YouTube video of him performing his poem titled “OCD”. As of this writing the video has gone viral and accumulated over 12 million views. I can’t recall how I stumbled upon the video, but as someone who lives with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) the title caught my eye. Since watching the video I’ve shared it across social media and encouraged people to take a few minutes and watch the performance; listen to the poem. It’s powerful and hauntingly familiar. I wanted to cheer and cringe at the same time while he told his story. It’s hard to describe OCD to those who aren’t inflicted with the disorder or have not experienced its wrath firsthand from a friend or family member. OCD creates an emotional certainty for what is known to be completely illogical. That’s tough to get across to someone who has never seen it up close. I recently wrote a small piece for this blog titled “The Checker” where I tried to describe my primary affliction: checking. However, what makes Mr. Hilborn’s poem/performance so remarkable is that it provides a familiarity, a clarity of the disorder, that makes it consumable for the masses. I have embedded the video at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy it. You can also find a collection of Mr. Hilborn’s poems, including “OCD”, in his book titled Our Numbered Days.